Itinerary & travel information
La Ferme du Bois-le-Comte is situated in the south-east of Belgium, on the French border.
Central in Europe, it can be reached in less than 5 hours by train from London, Paris or Amsterdam.
Address
La Ferme du Bois-le-Comte
Bois-le-Comte 1
6823 Villers-devant-Orval
If you want to enter an address into a GPS system or internet: Bois-le-Comte is not in every system, if it is not in yours enter 'rue de la Queue de l’Etang' for the street name, Bois-le-Comte is a continuation of it (1 km straight ahead from there).
Public transport from abroad
AIRPLANE
You can fly to the airport at Brussels-Zaventem, Luxembourg or Charleroi. Then take the train; there are regular connections, you always have to change in Libramont.
Brussels: Brussels-Luxembourg line
Luxembourg: Luxembourg-Brussels line
Charleroi: Charleroi-Namur line, change in Namur (Namur-Luxembourg line), then in Libramont (Libramont-Virton line).
For details, see below or look at the website of the Belgian railways.
TRAIN
If you come by train from Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K. or the center or the west of France, you take a train to Brussels; see below. If you travel by Eurostar, make sure to book your ticket to 'any Belgian station', that way your train ticket to Florenville is included.
If you come from the east of France, the nearest train station is Carignan, although the station of Montmédy offers more possibilities and is not very far either. For details about a taxi, see below.
You can find detailed information at the website of the Belgian railways.
The cheapest way of travelling by train within Belgium may be by buying a rail pass (for sale in Belgian railway stations).
Public transport within Belgium
TRAIN
You can go by train up to Florenville (a small town 12 km from Bois-le-Comte). Trains are going from Brussels every two hours; taking the Brussels-Luxembourg line, changing at Libramont to the Libramont-Virton line (immediate connection) and alighting at Florenville.
Example:
Departure Brussels North: 07.26 am (then every two hours, until 05.26 pm)
Arrival Libramont: 09.55 am (last connection 07.55 pm)
Arrival Florenville: 10.45 (arrival last train 20.45 pm)
On week days there is also a train leaving Brussels at 2.26 pm and arriving in Florenville at 5.51 pm.
Check the hours at the website of the Belgian railways.
TAXI
There is no taxi in Florenville. However, there is one in Carignan (France): taxi Dominique : 0033 6 75 17 80 02. Cost: 30 euros from Carignan to Bois-le-Comte in 2017 (from Florenville to BLC will probably cost more!).
BUS FROM FLORENVILLE
Schooldays: line 23 from station to place du Miroir Florenville + lijn 223 from place du Miroir to village (Villers-devant-Orval lavoir).
School holidays, weekends and official holidays: line V1 from station to Orval Carrefour.
Departure times line 23* + line 223 (school days):
Line 23 Florenville gare (station) - Florenville Miroir (4 minutes):
from station to place du Miroir: departures every hour from 06:32 to 20:32
from place du Miroir to station: departures every hour from 06:28 to 20:28
(this bus also goes on Saturdays and during school holidays)
Lijn 223 Izel - Florenville - Virton ( 15 minutes):
from place du Miroir Florenville to Villers-devant-Orval lavoir: departures at 12:29 and 16:29
from Villers-devant-Orval lavoir to place du Miroir Florenville: departures at 12:43 and 16:40
*Instead of taking bus 23 you can also walk from the station to Place du Miroir (near the post-office in the middle of Florenville, it’s about 20 minutes' walk.
Departure times line V1 Evasion Bouillon - Orval (school holidays, weekends and official holidays):
10 minutes
from Florenville station to Orval carrefour: departures at 9:30, 10:30, 12:30,14:30, and 16:30
from Orval carrefour to Florenville station: departures at 10:17, 12:17, 14:17, 16:17, and 18:17
Check departure times at the site of the bus company, TEC (at the bottom of the page): line 23 (classique) + line 223 (scolaire) for school days, line V2 (évasion) for other days.
From the bus stop at the centre of the village (Villers-devant-Orval lavoir) or at the intersection in Orval (Orval carrefour it’s a 2 km walk.
Walk from bus stop lavoir Villers-devant-Orval : When you have the main entry of the church on your right side, take the first street to the left, then go straight ahead (follow the signs 'Bois-le-Comte').
Walk from bus stop Orval intersection: When you have the car park of hostellerie d’Orval right in front of you, the path starts in the left corner at the back of the parking lot. Always straight ahead (ignore paths to the right except at the very beginning: then do not take the path that runs behind the houses but the path that runs more or less straight away from the houses) until you reach a small road at the top of the hill. There you go 10 meters to the left, until the asphalt road begins and then go right, straight down. At the very bottom you will come out directly opposite la ferme du Bois-le-Comte. If you have not walked this path before, it is best to use GPS or a map. You can also follow the main road to the village and then continue as above, but that is twice as far.
WALK
A beautiful walk of over 10 km (2,5 hours).
If you have never walked the way from Chameleux to Bois-le-Comte then the following description may nog be enough for you. You may need a detailed map (for sale at the tourist office near the church in Florenville, you need the map that covers Florenville, Chameleux and Orval).
Follow the road in front of Florenville station, turn left at the end (= direction Florenville). In the centre, cross the market square obliquely (or first go to the tourist office if you want to buy a map), take the small road next to ‘Chocolats d’Edouard’ and at the post office start following the GR signs (red & white lines). Keep following the GR in Chameleux (passing a café on your right and following the path to the left). At a given moment the road turns to the right and goes up: that's where you quit the GR (which becomes a small path along the water) and take the road up. At the intersection on top of the hill you cross the road and go down again. About 100 m behind a left turn you leave the road and take the path leading straight ahead into the wood.(*) Keep following this path (in the valley). At the end of the path you take the road that goes more or less straight ahead (a little bit to the left). Bois-le-Comte is 150 m further on your right.
(*) If you miss this path, go left at the next intersection and continue this road (it will turn to the right after about 200 m, then another 150 m to Bois-le-Comte).
Itinerary by car
Coming from Brussels, Liège or Charleroi
Take E411 Brussels-Namur-Luxembourg, exit 26 Neufchâteau. In Neufchâteau follow directions to Florenville. In Florenville at the intersection at the marketplace to the left, then to the right (direction Orval, 8km). At the intersection near the abbey of Orval, turn right to Villers-devant-Orval and follow this road till you enter the village. Please drive slowly! In the left turn leave the main road and continue straight ahead for a few meters, just before the little square turn to the right and go up for about 50 meters (church on your right, café Au cerle on your left), take the first street to the left, always straight ahead using the left lower roads (some 2 km: follow the signs of 'Bois-le-Comte'). At the end of the street is Bois-le-Comte, a large farm on your left.
For GPS: enter rue des routis Bas and continue straight ahead for nearly 2 km.
Coming from Luxembourg
Take direction Virton, then direction Florenville (you do not go as far as Florenville). Turn left at the intersection near the abbey of Orval, direction Villers-devant-Orval. See above.
Coming from other directions
Any other routes can be found at Mappy.
Some distances
Amsterdam: 400 km, 4 h
Antwerp: 225 km, 2 h 40
Arlon: 45 km, 45 mn
Brussels: 175 km, 2 h
Charleroi: 170 km, 2 h
Florenville: 12 km, 15 mn
Frankfurt: 300 km, 3 h 45
Liège: 150 km, 2 h
Luxembourg: 70 km, 1 h
Namur: 120 km, 1 h 40
Paris: 280 km, 3 h 15
Virton: 20 km, 30 mn
Have a nice journey!